Sometime-Oscar-predictors the Golden Globes announced their winners last night at the Beverley Hilton Hotel under the watchful eye of compere Ricky Gervais, whose acerbic comedy ruffled a few uptight Hollywood feathers and included a playful dig at Robert Downey Jr, whom he claimed was best known for “his stays at the Betty Ford clinic and the LA County jail.”

The competition was strong in general. Even the ‘Best Musical or Comedy’ category – which, thanks to some frankly ludicrous nominations, has severely dented the legitimacy of the award – managed to get the result right, giving The Kids Are All Right (the only legitimate nominee) the predicted nod. Looking at the other nominees, it would’ve been nothing short of embarrassing had anything else won.

The big winner of the night was The Social Network, which took home Best Drama, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. Columbia will be absolutely delighted with that haul, and people will be looking at Fincher’s film as the favourite for the big ones at the Oscars. One award it won’t be winning at the Oscars is Best Actor, which was scooped to nobody’s surprise last night by Colin Firth and the biggest statue of them all seems nailed on to go to him too.

Natalie Portman walked away with the Best Actress award for Black Swan which probably now makes her the favourite for the Oscar, if she wasn’t already. Annette Benning unsurprisingly won out in the Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) category and Paul Giamatti took the male equivalent. The Fighter did well in the supporting categories, with Christian Bale and Melissa Leo both winning for the boxing biopic. Danish film In a Better World walked away with Best Foreign Film and Toy Story 3 took Best Animated Film.

All in all it wasn’t a night of big surprises, but some good films walked away with good awards so in general the night was a success. The most high-profile absentee is obviously Inception, Christopher Nolan’s brilliant mind-bender which now seems destined to pass through spring unrewarded. Elsewhere, nobody would begrudge Robert De Niro for receiving the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, his ongoing participation in the Fockers franchise notwithstanding.

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